I'm a girl born in the wrong decade. I belong in the 1960s or the 1970s in my opinion. I bleed tie dye, my theme music is anything 1960s rock or 1970s rock or metal. I'm a hippie through and through. But also a hippie who loves old metal music. I believe that violence never solves anything, so why resort to it to solve problems? With all the wars the world has seen, there should be a clue somewhere in there!

Life is what happens when you are making other plans~ John Lennon
An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind~Gandhi
The time is always right to do what is right~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Assignment for Music 101

Apparently to graduate college, I have to take a few General Education classes here at Gateway. I have chosen to take a Music 101 class because I have a fond interest in music, whether it be the history of music, all the early musicians, anything directly related to the history of music I take a fond interest in. So our first project is to do a blog post on something that we like, so I did mine on the topic of The Rolling Stones. I'm a very big fan of them, have been since 2008, when I graduated high school and my mom and stepdad married. In face, alot of the music I listen to he introduced to me, so I guess because of him I like alot of older music.

I came across this blog called Beatles Fans, and naturally with me being a Beatles fan, I just had to follow it. And the 1st post I read on there was about this girl who was doing a project on The Beatles, so that sort of inspired me to do a blog on something I'm a fan of. I would do this post on The Beatles, but she already did her post on The Beatles and I don't want to steal her idea.

The Stones raised awareness for artists by the company Chess Records. How the band got it's name is Brian Jones took it from an old Muddy Waters song called Rollin' Stone

Alot of their early stuff was American R&B and blues-rock covers

On July 12, 1962, The Stones played their first gig at the Marquee Club in downtown London, and their then manager Giorgio Gomelsky had booked a gig for them at the Crawdaddy Club on a Sunday afternoon. Their manager had tied the club's reputation for R&B with the rise of The Beatles, and he thought that is what started the reputation of Swinging London

During their concert at the Crawdaddy Club, former Beatles publicist Andrew Loog Oldham decided he wanted to be the manager of the Stones, and he signed the band to a management deal. the only problem was that at the time Andrew was only 19, certainly younger than the band, he was not old enough to hold a license for it, so he joined up with show biz master Eric Easton

On June 7, 1963, the Rolling Stones released their first hit single, Come On, a cover of the Chuck Berry song, and in fact today is the anniversary of that release.

Oldham had tried dressing the band in matching houndstooth design suits to be a little like The Beatles, but then decided to just letting them wear their own clothes. He also made a few changes within the band, he dressed them in leather jackets, insisted that lead singer Michael Jagger shorten his name to Mick. With this, they would be, for years on, considered to be the Beatles main rivals.

In May 1963, pianist Ian Stewart was removed from the band by Oldham because he believed Ian was dead weight and that a rock band doesn't need a piano player. Ian went on to become the manager and occasional pianist for the band until his death in 1985

When they released their first album, England's Newest Hit Makers, they weren't smiling on the front because Oldham had presented them as the almost evil opposites of the Beatles, and in the papers there was the broad headline "Would you let your daughter marry a Rolling Stone?"

In June 1964, they had their first US tour. Since they didn't have a record there, they thought nothing would go good for them. When they appeared on Dean Martin's show The Hollywood Palace, he mocked their appearance and haircuts.

On January 15, 1967, the Rolling Stones were due to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show, an American variety show famed with the appearance of the Beatles in the 1960s. They were supposed to play their hit single Let's Spend the Night Together. Whenever the band got to the clean refrain "Let's spend some time together" Mick would roll his eyes up in anger. So in a form on revenge, the band went backstage and changed in to Nazi uniforms with swastikas on them. Ed was furious, he demanded the band go and change into their previous clothes. They promptly left the studio and he said they'd never be let back into the studio again. However, it would raise some questions as to why he didn't say anything about Diana Ross and the Supreme's Hit Love Child, which is about a woman who has a child out of wedlock.

If you want to hear Mick Jagger singing in his natural London accent, listen to the song Mother's Little Helper

On June 29, 1967, after the British police found 4 amphetamine pills on him, Mick Jagger was sentenced to 3 months of prison, where as Keith was sentenced to 1 year in prison

In 1969, Brian Jones was found dead at the bottom of the pool at his house, COD-drowning. The Stones were due to appear in concert in London's Hyde Park, and they had found a replacement named Mick Taylor. So the band had decided to make the Hyde Park concert a tribute concert to Brian. Mick had read the Adonais by Percy Shelley and released hundreds of butterflies in honor or Brian.

On Dec. 6, 1969, the Stones gave a free concert at the Altamont Speedway in northern California. For security there, the biker gang the Hells Angels were there, and they had stabbed and beaten to death a guy named Meredith Hunter after they realized he was armed.

During the 1970s, Mick and Keith were often referred to as the Glimmer Twins.

Them then, when they were the Glimmer Twins

Them now

Personally, it's looking like Mick is the better looking one.

Towards the end of 1974, guitarist Mick Taylor quit the band. At this time, there was another band with a future Stones member. The band was called the Faces and it had Jeff Beck, Ian McLaghan, Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood. Everyone in the band agreed that he was perfect. He officially joined up with the Stones in Feb. 1975 as the Faces had broken up.

The El Mocambo Club in Toronto, Canada. This is where a good majority of their Love You Live album was recorded. And as for the cover of the album, it was done by artist Andy Warhol

The Stones 1981 American Tour was said to be the biggest, longest, most colorful tour ever, with them playing from Sept. 25, thru Dec. 19. The movies Let's Spend the Night Together and Still Life(American Concert 1981) is of footage from both the Brendan Byrne Arena in the Meadowlands, New Jersey and the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.

In the mid 1980s, the fighting between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards kept increasing. In Dec. 1985, their manager and long time friend Ian Stewart was found dead from a heart attack. At London's 100 Club in Feb. 1986. the band paid a private tribute to him, 2 days before they were given a Grammy for Lifetime Acheivement in Music

In early 1989, the Stones were inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After that, that's when Mick and Keith started getting along again, and the band started work on their Steel Wheels album. The tour following this would be the last one for Bill and the Stones as in 1993 he would leave the band to pursue other interests. When Bill left, Ronnie became a fully fledged member of the Stones, nearly 20 years after joining up.

After this tour, the band took a break. Charlie released 2 jazz albums, Ronnie released his 5th solo album, the 1st in 11 years called Slide on This, in late 1992, Keith released his 2nd solo album called Main Offender, Mick released his 3rd solo album called Wandering Spirit. At the 1995 Grammys, The Rolling Stones' Voodoo Lounge album would go on to win the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album

In 1997, they released their Bridges to Babylon album, with the addition of a new song(Anybody Seen My Baby?). In the video, Angelina Jolie showed up and briefly appears in the video. In late 2001, Mick released his 4th solo album, Goddess in the Doorway

How the band got it's logo is it was designed by an artist named John Pasche in 1971.

On July 26, 2005, Mick's b-day, he announced what the name of their new album would be. It would be called A Bigger Bang, and it would be their first album in 8 years.

In August 2005, the group went on their A Bigger Bang tour. But it was extended into 2007 and concluded at London's O2 Theatre. During this, Keith was hospitalized for a head injury, Ronnie was in rehab for alcohol abuse, during July-September 2006, 2 of the 21 shows they were scheduled to do had to be cancelled as Mick was suffering severe throat problems. On October 29, and Nov.1 the band did 2 concerts at New York's Beacon Theatre, the subject of Martin Scorcese's movie Shine a Light. On October 27, 2002, Mick released a compilation CD called The Very Best of Mick Jagger.

On Dec. 12, 2003, Mick Jagger was knighted for his special services to music and as a result of that, is now known as Sir Michael Philip Jagger. He was knighted by the Prince of Wales and apparently Keith was not happy, he thought that was stupid that Mick had done that, he was probably thinking "these were the same people trying to throw us in prison in the 1960s and now you're accepting a knighthood?"

Also when Mick wasn't touring with the Stones, he was doing acting. Some of the movies he's been in include Freejack, Ned Kelly, Performance, The Man From Elysian Fields, Bent